BECK 


An  Introductory  i»ecture 


;--■••-•» 


■ 


M-K736 


.;-  . 


Columbia  (Bntoetsitp 

College  of  logicians  anb  burgeons; 
ILtorarp 


DR.  BECK'S 
INTRODUCTORY  LECTURE. 


NOVEMBER  5,    1830. 


AN 


INTRODUCTORY  LECTURE, 


DELIVERED  AT  THE 


COLLEGE  OF  PHYSICIANS  AND  SURGEONS 


CITY   OF   NEW-YORK, 


NOV.  5,    1830. 


» 


BY    JOHN    B.   BECK,   M.  D. 

Prof      i    i  Materia  Medicaand  Medical  Jurisprudence  in  the  University  of  the 
State  ol  New-York< 


NEW-YORK  : 

H    i  ai;\  ILL    108  BROADW  K\ 


IHUI). 


-   V 


% 


/&0 


TO  THE  STUDENTS 

* 

OP  THE 

COLLEGE  OF  PHYSICIANS  AND  SURGEONS 

OF  THE    CITY  OF  NEW- YORK, 
THE  FOLLOWING  LECTURE  IS  AFFECTIONATELY  INSCRIBED, 

BY    THEIR    FRIEND 

THE    AUTHOR. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2011  with  funding  from 

Open  Knowledge  Commons 


http://www.archive.org/details/introductorylect1830beck 


LECTURE, 


In  the  whole  career  of  human  existence,  there  is  perhaps 
no  question  to  the  determination  of  which  a  man  may  be 
called,  so  really  important  to  himself  as  that  which  relates 
to  the  business  or  profession  which  is  to  occupy  the  thoughts 
and  labours  of  his  future  life.  According  to  the  decision  which 
he  here  makes,  may  his  fortunes  be  prosperous  or  adverse, 
and  his  name  destined  to  honour  or  contempt.  The  reason 
is  obvious.  Man  is  the  creature  of  circumstances.  Con- 
stituted by  his  Creator  a  social  being — endowed  with  sus- 
ceptibilities of  being  influenced  by  others  of  his  species,  it 
is  evident  that  his  character  and  destiny  must,  to  a  very  great 
extent,  be  controlled  by  the  associations  which  necessity — 
or  accident — or  fortune  may  have  forced  upon  him.  Hence 
it  ifl  that  by  education  and  example  he  is  formed  to  good  or 
to  evil.  By  the  kindred  spirits  with  whom  he  sympathizes 
Bod  acts,  I":  ifl  stirred  to  lofty  purposes  and  a  noble  ambition, 
or  sunk  into  base  thoughts  and  unworthy  practices. 

It  is  not  merely,  however,  this  general  influence,  which, 
morn   "i  leu  i  itensively,  is  fell  in  every  occupation  and  in 

m  ry  situation  in  life,  t li:ii  invests  with  so  high  an  interest) 


6 

the  choice  of  a  profession.  The  minds  of  men  differ  as 
much  as  their  physical  structures.  It  is  impossible  therefore 
that  all  can  apply  themselves  to  the  same  subject  with  equal 
chances  of  success.  On  this  account  it  is  that  instances  are 
so  frequently  met  with  of  men,  even  of  powerful  under- 
standings and  abundant  knowledge,  proving  unsuccessful  in 
particular  professional  avocations.  Energies  are  lost  or 
wasted  on  subjects  unsuited  to  their  nature,  which  had  they 
been  directed  to  other  and  more  congenial  pursuits,  would 
have  placed  them  in  the  foremost  ranks  of  successful  com- 
petition, and  perhaps  transmitted  their  names  with  renown 
to  after  ages. 

It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  much  of  a  man's  character  in 
life  may  depend  upon  the  profession  which  he  may  select, 
and  the  adaptation  of  it  to  his  peculiar  powers. 

You,  Gentlemen,  have  made  this  selection,  and,  I  doubt 
not,  with  a  due  regard  to  its  just  importance  :  and  you  have 
chosen  a  study  which  in  its  dignity,  general  interest,  and  ex- 
tended practical  utility,  is  inferior  to  none.  Of  its  dignity 
and  utility,  it  is  almost  unnecessary  to  say  any  thing.  Its 
claims  to  these  do  not  rest  upon  the  dubious  grounds  of  ab- 
stract speculation — they  are  laid  deep  in  nature.  There  is 
nothing  so  valuable  to  man  as  his  life  ;  and  the  means  designed 
to  save  and  prolong  it  must  be  viewed  as  among  the  greatest 
of  earthly  blessings.  Hence  it  is  that  wherever  human  be- 
ings have  been  found,  Medicine  has  always  been  held  in  the 
highest  esteem.  While  in  civilized  society  and  among  cul- 
tivated nations,  it  has  been  looked  upon  as  one  of  the  noblest 
and  most  liberal  of  arts,  among  savage  nations  it  has  been 


invested  with  a  character  more  sacred,  and  allied  to  the 
Divinity  itself.  A  concurrence  of  opinion  so  universal 
among  mankind — in  countries  most  remote  from  each  other 
— in  periods  most  distant — of  nations  the  most  rude  and  the 
most  refined,  could  never  have  existed  without  a  sure  and 
just  foundation  in  truth.  Of  the  general  estimation  there- 
fore in  which  medicine  is  held,  as  well  as  of  its  public  utility, 
there  can  be  no  doubt.  It  is  not  in  these  points  of  view 
solely,  however,  that  it  should  be  looked  upon  by  those  who 
propose  to  make  it  the  study  of  their  lives.  They  should 
look  upon  it  in  its  relations  to  the  wide  range  of  human 
knowledge,  and  the  influence  which  it  may  exercise  imme- 
diately or  remotely  upon  their  intellectual  and  moral  natures. 
It  is  only  by  such  an  analysis  that  the  question  can  be  de- 
cided, whether  they  are  about  to  devote  their  labours  to 
studies  which  shall  mature  and  expand  and  brighten  their 
faculties,  and  render  their  career  honourable  to  themselves 
and  useful  to  the  world. 

In  casting  round  for  a  subject  on  which  I  might  address 
you  on  the  present  occasion,  it  has  struck  me  that  there  could 
be  none  more  appropriate  than  such  an  analysis  of  the  study 
of  medicine,  mainly  with  a  view  of  urging  upon  you  its 
proper  cultivation.  The  subject  is  one  of  interest  and  im- 
portance, and  to  do  full  justice  to  it  would  require  more  time 
mil  discussion  than  could  with  propriety  be  appropriated  to 
the  present  exercise.  I  shall  therefore  conlinc  myself  to  a 
i;i|>i<l  notice  of  two  or  threw  important  points,  reserving  the 
hi'   future  opportunit) . 

The  great  and  l< lading  idea  that  I  would  present  to  you,  is 


that  the  science  of  medicine  is  essentially  the  study  of  man, 
To  a  certain  extent  this  is  true,  also,  of  the  other  liberal 
professions  :  not  however  in  the  broad  sense  in  which  it  is 
so  of  medicine.     Man  is  a  compound  being,  and  it  is  only 
here  that  in  all  his  parts,  animal,  moral  and  intellectual,  he 
is  made  the  subject  of  profound  investigation.     It  is  this 
knowledge  of  man,  which  in  fact  is  the  basis  of  our  science. 
He  is  accordingly  first  considered  and  analyzed  as  an  ani- 
mated piece  of  mechanism,  furnished  with  certain  organs 
and  endowed  with  certain  powers  designed  to  support  and 
prolong  his  own  existence,  and  to  perpetuate  the  species. 
Next  he  is  viewed  as  the  creature  of  passions,  under  whose 
stormy  sway  he  is  impelled  to  good  or  to  evil,  rendered 
happy  or  miserable.     Finally  he  is  contemplated  as  gifted 
with  an  intellectual  nature,  shining  out  gloriously  in  those 
mental  operations  which  so  pre-eminently  raise  our  species 
over  the  brute  creation.     Now,  constituted  as  man  is,  all 
these  different  parts  of  his  being  reciprocally  influence  each 
other.     At  one  time,  we  see  the  whole  physical  organization 
agitated  and  disturbed  by  the  fury  of  the  passions,  or  sinking 
before  the  deeper  impulses  of  the  intellect.     Then  again, 
we  see  the  passions  running  wild,  and  the  intellect  itself 
shaken  on  its  very  throne,  by  perverted  conditions  of  the 
physical  organs.     To  trace  out  there  relations  and  to  mark 
their  varied  results,  as  it  is  one  of  the  most  profound,  so  is 
it  one  of  the  most  interesting  and  important  studies  con- 
nected with  our  science. 

But  it  is  not  merely  as  an  individual,  that  man  is  to  be 
examined.     In  all  his  relations  with  the  species,  under  all  the 


various  circumstances,  and  in  all  the  different  situations  in 
which  he  may  be  found,  he  is  to  be  analyzed.     When  first 
placed  upon  this  earth,  his  dwelling  limited  to  one  region, 
using  the  same  diet,  subject  to  the  same  atmospheric  vicissi- 
tude", and  influenced  by  the  same  moral  and  religious  causes 
-the  probability  is,  that  for  a  long  period  the  human  family 
was  characterized  by  striking  resemblances.     Diseases  were 
few  and  simple  ;  and  the  susceptibility  of  the  system  to  the 
impression  of  external  agents,  whether  noxious  or  salutary, 
morbid  or  medicinal,  marked  by  a  general  uniformity.     In 
process  of  time,  however,  man  overleapt  the  limits  of  his 
originalOiabitation,  and  urged  his  way  to  other  and  remote 
regions,  until  finally  he  overspread  the  surface  of  the  earth  ; 
and  he  is  now  found  under  every  climate,  in  every  state  of 
society,  with  manners  and  customs  the  most  diverse.  Yield- 
ing to  the  sway  of  varying  causes,  he  now  loses  his  unifor- 
mity.    Preserving  only  those  great  general  features  which 
identify  the  unity  of  his  origin,  in  other  respects  he  becomes 
changed  and  modified.     His  colour  varies,  and  we  see  in  one 
part  of  the  globe,  the  white  man  ;  in  another,  he  assumes  the 
yellow  or  olive  tint ;  in  a  third,  we  find  him  of  the  red  or  cop- 
per colour  ;  in  a  fourth,  brown  or  tawny ;  while  in  another, 
he  is  perfectly  black.  Along  with  his  colour,  his  structure  un- 
dergoes various  modifications,  and  hence  we  have  what  arc 
called  the  different  varieties  of  the  human  race.     From  the 
same  causes,  the  vital  properties  of  the  system  become  mo- 

(lli1((l.    In  cold  northern  regions,  the  g sral  sensibility  is 

blunted  by  the  rigour  of  the  climate.    While  the  muscular 
system  is  fully  developed,  the  brain  and  nerves  exert  but  little 

2 


10 

influence.  There  is  a  general  dullness  and  slowness  of  body 
as  well  as  of  mind  :  capable  of  great  efforts  when  roused, 
but  requiring  extraordinary  excitements  to  rouse  them.  In 
equatorial  regions,  the  reverse  of  all  this  is  seen.  Here  the 
nervous  system  predominates.  All  the  sensibilities  are  awake. 
The  skin,  constantly  stimulated  by  the  heat  of  the  climate, 
keeps  up  a  corresponding  excitement  in  the  digestive  organs. 
While  the  muscular  system  is  enfeebled,  there  is  a  general 
excitability,  which  is  called  into  full  development  by  the 
slightest  stimulants.  It  is  owing  to  this,  that  so  marked  a 
difference  is  found  in  the  effects  which  are  produced  by  sti- 
mulating liquors  upon  the  inhabitants  of  northern  and  south- 
ern regions.  What  wrould  intoxicate  the  latter,  produces 
scarcely  any  effect  upon  the  former.  '  A  quantity  which 
barely  ruffles  the  frozen  current  of  a  Norwegian's  blood, 
would  scatter  madness  and  fever  into  the  brain  of  the  Hin- 
doo.' The  mind  itself  participates  in  these  effects — the 
imagination  rises  ascendant  over  the  other  faculties — and 
man  sinks  into  indolence  and  voluptuousness. 

If  we  follow  man  still  further  and  trace  him  in  different 
states  and  stages  of  society,  we  shall  find  him  marked  by 
striking  peculiarities.  In  one  he  will  be  found  with  a  body 
inirritable,  and  a  mind  inactive  and  obtuse;  while  in  another, 
he  will  be  exhibited  as  the  victim  of  sensibility  and  excite- 
ment, physical  as  well  as  moral. 

Now  in  all  these  varied  conditions  man  is  to  be  studied  in 
all  his  peculiarities,  inasmuch  as  upon  these  depend,  not 
merely  the  character  of  the  diseases  to  which  he  may  be 
subject,  but  also  the  mode  in  which  they  are  to  be  treated. 


11 

Extensive  and  profound  however  as  this  investigation  may 
already  appear,  it  is  very  evident  that  it  would  be  exceed- 
ingly defective  were  it  not,  at  the  same  time,  connected  with 
the  study  of  the  various  agents  which  exert  their  modify- 
ing influences  over  the  human  frame.  Hence  it  is  that 
medicine  levies  contributions  upon  almost  every  department 
of  human  knowledge.  Artificial  agents  too,  employed  in 
the  cure  of  diseases,  are  to  be  carefully  investigated,  and  as 
they  are  drawn  from  the  different  kingdoms  of  nature,  they 
form  a  natural  association  with  a  number  of  sciences,  the 
most  elegant  and  useful. 

From  this  simple  view  of  the  nature  of  medical  science, 
it  must  be  obvious  that  it  is  of  vast  extent  and  abundant 
variety.     Even  to  those  who  have  no  idea  of  practising  it, 
there  is  no  subject  which  can  form  so  proper  and  solid  a  basis 
for  the  study  of  general  science,  or  for  any  other  profes- 
sional pursuit,  to  which  taste  or  ambition  may  subsequently 
invite.     The  natural  tendency  of  all  individual  studies,  to  a 
certain  extent,  is  adverse  to  any  great  enlargement  of  the 
mental  faculties.     By  making  one  subject  a  matter  of  par- 
amount attention,  the  mind  is  led  to  attach  an  undue  import- 
ance to  it.     Indeed,  so  much  of  the  grand  capital  of  a  man's 
life,  labour    and  time,  may  have  been  expended  upon  it 
as  to  invest  it  with  a  real  consequence  to  him,  which  intrin- 
sically it  does  not  possess.     In  proportion  as  this  feeling 
predominates,  the  mind  is  abstracted  from  other  subjects, 
and  insensibly  depreciates  their  value.    All  the  professions 
-iill'-r  from  this  cause,  more  or  less,  and  all  professional  men 
feel  the  <l<  leterious  influence  of  it  on  their  intellectual  powers. 


12 

To  this  general  tendency  of  professional  pursuits,  medi- 
cine, however,  is  the  least  obnoxious ;  and  the  reason  obvi- 
ously is,  because  it  is  based  on  a  wider  extent  of  knowledge, 
and  presents  to  the  mind  a  more  expanded  and  liberal  view 
of  the  relations  of  man  to  the  various  sources  of  knowledge, 
as  well  as  of  the  connexion  and  dependencies  of  the  sciences 
upon  one  another. 

Hence  it  is  that  medicine  has  always  sustained  so  high  a 
reputation  among  the  learned.  Sir  William  Temple  says  of 
it,  "  it  is  certain  that  the  study  of  physic  is  not  achieved  in 
any  eminent  degree,  without  very  great  advancement  in  the 
sciences ;  so  that  whatever  the  profession  is,  the  professors 
of  it  have  been  generally  very  much  esteemed  on  that  ac- 
count, as  well  as  of  their  own  art,  as  the  most  learned  men 
of  their  ages."  Hence  too  can  be  explained,  very  readily5 
the  fact  of  the  versatility  of  physicians,  and  the  facility  with 
which  they  can  pass  from  their  own  profession  to  other  stu- 
dies and  occupations,  and  why  they  are  found  to  excel  fre- 
quently more  in  these  than  they  would  have  done  in  medicine. 
The  study  of  medicine  puts  it  in  their  power  to  take  a  ge- 
neral and  wide  view  of  all  the  departments  of  knowledge, 
and  thus  enables  them  to  select  for  especial  pursuit  such  as 
may  be  most  congenial  to  their  taste.  In  this  way  it  is  that 
scarcely  a  spot  in  the  vast  domain  of  science  has  been  left 
untrodden  by  the  footsteps  of  medical  men.  Chemistry,  so 
wonderful  in  itself  and  so  incalculable  in  its  applications  to 
the  useful  arts,  owes  every  thing  to  the  labours  of  physicians. 
Who  are  our  zoologists,  geologists,  botanists,  mineralogists  ? 
Generally,  physicians.     In  the  noble  expeditions  fitted  out 


13 

by  enlightened  monarchs  and  governments,  to  extend  the 
knowledge  of  our  earth,  who  have  been  among  the  most 
efficient  agents  in  carrying  them  through  1  Why,  physicians. 
Indeed,  wherever  curiosity,  enterprise,  or  the  love  of  sci- 
ence have  drawn  men,  there  you  will  find  the  votary  of  medi- 
cal science.  At  one  time  you  see  him  diving  into  the 
mysteries  of  Babylonian  antiquities — then  unravelling  the 
manuscripts  of  Herculaneum — now  expounding  the  subtle- 
ties of  metaphysical  science — or  shining  in  the  walks  of 
elegant  literature.  At  one  time  you  see  him  scaling  the 
Alps  or  the  Andes — at  another  exploring  the  treasures  of  the 
ocean.  You  see  him  in  the  frozen  regions  of  the  north,  and 
under  the  burning  suns  of  the  tropics — the  pilgrim  of  the 
desert — the  companion  of  savage  beasts  and  still  more  sa- 
vage men  ;  and  amid  hardships,  and  privations,  and  dangers, 
and  sufferings,  he  is  borne  along  by  an  enthusiasm  as  pow- 
erful as  it  is  unquenchable. 

Now  it  is  self-evident,  that  any  study  which  has  the  magic 
influence  of  thus  setting  on  fire  in  its  votaries,  the  love  of 
science,  and  inspiring  them  with  a  zeal  so  noble,  cannot  but 
have  a  broad  and  liberal  foundation.  Without  wishing  to  be 
invidious,  it  may  boldly  be  asked,  what  other  profession  can 
claim  to  itself  this  honour? 

It  has  been  a  common  objection  to  our  science,  that  it  is 
not  certain  in  its  principles — in  other  words,  that  it  is  a  con- 
ji  rln nil  art.  That  such  an  opinion  should  be  entertained 
by  those  who  look  at  medicine  simply  on  the  surface,  is  not 
to  be  wondered  at  \  and  all  who  have  not  made  it  the  subject 
of  especial  study,  may  be  considered  as  in  this  condition. 


14 

Ignorant  of  its  real  claims  to  confidence,  they  judge  of  it 
from  insulated  facts  and  occurrences  in  ordinary  practice, 
where  apparent  contradictions  are  continually  presenting 
themselves ;  or  what  is  still  more  unjust,  they  form  their 
opinion  of  it  from  the  speculations  and  theories  of  vain  and 
superficial  minds,  or  the  absurdities  and  ignorance  of  prac- 
titioners unworthy  of  the  noble  science  which  they  profess. 
Tested  by  such  a  rule,  every  other  science  and  art  might 
be  shown  to  be  equally  uncertain  and  conjectural.  What 
can  be  more  contradictory  than  the  opinions  of  those  who 
practise  the  profession  of  the  law  ?  And  yet  what  man  lay- 
ing claim  to  even  ordinary  intelligence,  will  not  allow  that 
the  great  principles  of  law  are  founded  in  truth  and  nature  ; 
or  in  the  language  of  Lord  Bacon,  that  "  there  are  in  nature 
certain  fountains  of  justice,  whence  all  civil  laws  are  derived 
but  as  streams ;  and  like  as  waters  do  take  tinctures  and 
tastes  from  the  soils  through  which  they  run,  so  do  civil  laws 
vary  according  to  the  regions  and  governments  where  they 
are  planted,  though  they  proceed  from  the  same  fountains."* 
Religion  too,  judged  by  the  varying  and  contradictory  opi- 
nions of  men,  must  be  pronounced  uncertain  and  conjec- 
tural, not  merely  in  its  sacred  and  mysterious  doctrines,  but 
even  in  its  more  obvious  ethical  precepts.  A  rule  of  judg- 
ment, therefore,  which  is  not  just  in  law  or  religion,  certainly 
cannot  be  admissible  in  its  application  to  medicine.  Any 
argument,  therefore,  drawn  from  this  source  against  the  cer- 


*  Advancement  of  Learning,  p.  355. 


51 

tainty  of  our  science  must  fall  to  the  ground,  inasmuch  as  if 
it  proves  any  thing,  it  proves  too  much — if  admitted  in  this 
•case,  it  would  subvert  the  certainty  of  almost  every  other 
science. 

The  only  method  of  accurately  estimating  the  value  of 
our  science  is,  to  judge  of  it  simply  by  itself,  and  if  this 
common  justice  be  done,  there  will  be  little  difficulty  in 
showing  that  its  foundations  are  laid  deep  in  truth  and  na- 
ture, and  therefore,  that  it  is  not  conjectural.  If  medicine 
be  uncertain,  it  must  be  for  one  or  other  of  the  following 
reasons.  In  the  first  place,  because  diseases  are  ever  vary- 
ing in  their  character.  In  the  second  place,  because  medi- 
cines are  uncertain  in  their  operation.  In  the  third  place, 
because  in  the  application  of  remedies  to  particular  diseases 
so  much  tact  and  skill  are  required,  as  to  place  it  beyond 
the  rules  of  an  ordinary  science. 

It  is  only  for  one  or  other  of  these  reasons  that  medicine 
can  be  uncertain  ;  for  if  diseases  are  always  the  same — if 
remedies  are  always  certain  in  their  operation,  and  if  the 
application  of  remedies  to  diseases  be  established  upon  clear 
principles  or  certain  observation,  no  one  probably  will  pre- 
tend that  medicine  is  an  uncertain  art.  For  the  purpose  of 
ascertaining  how  far  all  this  is  justly  applicable,  I  shall  make 
a  remark  or  two  upon  each  of  these  points. 

As  diseases  occur  in  a  living  machine  which  is  liable  to  be 
modified  by  a  great  variety  of  causes,  it  is  very  evident  that 
they  cannot,  in  all  persona  and  under  all  circumstances,  put 
on  precisely  the  same  appearances.  Unless  however  it  can 
be  shown  that  these  differences  are  altogether  arbitrary,  and 


16 

not  governed  by  any  rule,  this  fact,  so  far  from  showing  the 
uncertain  character  of  diseases,  goes  rather  to  establish 
the  reverse.  Now  in  tracing  back  the  annals  of  medicine, 
we  shall  find  that  in  all  their  essential  features,  diseases  are 
the  same  in  the  present  day  that  they  were  a  thousand  years 
ago,  and  that  the  modifications  to  which  they  are  liable  in 
particular  subjects,  or  in  different  countries,  are  all  owing  to 
the  operation  of  causes,  many  of  which  are  known  and  ap- 
preciated. The  descriptions  given  us  by  Hippocrates,  espe- 
cially of  acute  diseases,  are  true  to  this  very  hour,  varied  of 
course  in  some  respects  by  climate,  modes  of  living,  and 
other  circumstances.  If  therefore  the  fact  of  diseases  differing 
in  this  way  were  not  known,  then  indeed  all  would  be  un- 
certainty and  confusion.  The  variety  might  surprise  us  un- 
expectedly, and  involve  us  in  doubt  and  error.  As  the  fact 
however  is  known  that  such  varieties  do  occur,  and  as  it  is 
one  of  the  fundamental  businesses  of  our  science  to  analyze 
these,  as  well  as  the  causes  which  give  rise  to  them,  it  can- 
not, with  any  justice,  be  urged  that  on  this  account  there  is 
any  uncertainty  in  the  general  character  of  diseases. 

In  the  next  place,  in  regard  to  medicines,  they  are  no 
more  doubtful  and  uncertain  in  their  operation  than  diseases 
are  in  their  symptoms.  An  emetic  will  vomit  and  a  cathar- 
tic will  purge  as  certainly  and  invariably  now,  as  they  did 
hundreds  of  years  ago.  Under  the  different  circumstances 
however  in  which  the  human  system  may  be  placed,  they  will 
produce  their  effects  with  greater  or  less  facility,  and  in  larger 
or  smaller  quantities.  Children,  for  instance,  are  vomited 
with  greater  ease  than  adults  ;  as  a  general  rule  too  in  warm 


17 

climates,  from  the  greater  sensibility  of  the  stomach,  smaller 
doses  of  emetics  are  required  than  in  northern  regions, 
where  the  stomach  participates  in  the  general  insusceptibi- 
lity of  the  whole  system.  It  is  very  obvious,  nevertheless, 
that  all  this  does  not  prove  any  uncertainty  in  their  opera- 
tion. It  merely  proves  that  their  effects  are  controlled  and 
modified  by  certain  circumstances,  which  it  is  the  province 
of  medical  science  to  elucidate. 

In  the  last  place,  with  regard  to  the  tact  and  skill  required 
in  the  application  of  remedies  to  diseases,  it  is  not  necessary 
to  say  much.     It  should  be  recollected  that  medicine  is 
not  a  mere  mechanical  art,  and  therefore  does  not  admit 
of  being  reduced  to  mechanical   rules.     This,  however, 
by  no  means  proves  that  it  is  uncertain,  or  that  it  does 
not  rest  upon  a  sure  foundation.     To  become  acquainted 
with  the  facts  and  principles  which  it  embraces,  is  within  the 
reach  of  any  ordinary  capacity.   But  in  this,  as  in  every  other 
pursuit,  men  are  not  all  found  equal,  and  high  excellence 
is  not  to  be  attained  without  a  peculiar  adaptation  of  genius. 
The  same  holds  true  of  every  science.     It  does  so  of  the 
mathematics,  the  most  exact  of  the  sciences.     Of  music 
also,  the  principles  are  well  founded,  and  yet  how  few  are 
there  capable  of  creating  those  combinations  of  sounds  which 
have  immortalized  the  names  of  Mozart,  Handel,  and  Ros- 
sini ?    And  so  it  is  with  medicine.     In  the  development,  com- 
bination, and  application  of  its  principles,  the  genius  of  one 
man  will  shun-  pre-eminently  above  his  fellows. 
In  ilni-  conti  tiding  foi  the  certainty  of  our  science,  if  is 

:: 


18 

by  no  means  to  be  considered  as  perfect  Resting  <an  the 
basis  of  observation  and  experiment,  and  these  requiring  to 
be  made  upon  man  in  all  his  phases,  it  is  very  obvious  that 
it  must  necessarily  have  been  of  slow  growth.  Encoun- 
tering in  itself  intrinsic  difficulties,  we  shall  find  in  tracing 
back  its  history,  that  it  has  suffered  from  the  same  causes 
which  exerted  an  influence  so  baneful  over  the  other  sci- 
ences. Eminently  fortunate  in  its  first  father,  who  laid 
its  firm  foundations,  after  his  time,  medicine  in  common 
with  every  other  department  of  knowledge,  became  the 
victim  of  a  false  philosophy,  which  if  it  did  not  wholly 
extinguish  the  lamp  of  truth,  so  dimmed  and  obscured  its 
light,  that  men  groped  their  way  without  an  object  and  with- 
out a  guide.  For  centuries  the  human  mind  was  like  a  vessel 
driven  about  on  the  trackless  ocean,  without  a  star  or  a  pilot 
to  direct  it.  There  was  one  general  eclipse  of  truth  over 
the  world.  At  last  the  great  orb  of  day  arose  upon  the 
chaos  of  the  intellectual  world.  Lord  Bacon  appeared,  and 
advancing  with  a  giant's  strength,  bore  away  upon  his  shoul- 
ders the  pillars  of  the  temple  of  error.  With  one  tremen- 
dous crash,  the  stupendous  fabric  fell  to  the  ground,  burying 
amid  its  ruins  the  labours  and  genius  of  ages.  Previous  to 
this  grand  catastrophe,  it  is  true  that  medicine  did  not  ad- 
vance, and  at  this  period  its  condition  was  such  as,  fully  to 
justify  what  Bacon  says  of  it.  "  Medicine  is  a  science  which 
hath  been  more  professed  than  laboured,  and  yet  more  la- 
boured than  advanced ;  the  labour  having  been,  in  my  judg- 
ment, rather  in  a  circle  than  in  progression.     For  T  find  much 


19 

aeration,  but  small  addition."'  Since  this  sentence  was 
pronounced  upon  our  science,  whoever  will  take  the  trouble 
of  examination,  will  find  in  it  the  most  wonderful  improve^ 
ment.  Perhaps  a  more  satisfactory  method  of  showing  this 
could  not  be  resorted  to  than  simply  to  notice  the  deficien- 
cies in  it,  pointed  out  by  Lord  Bacon  himself.  With  that 
intuitive  comprehensiveness  which  so  peculiarly  character- 
ized his  mighty  intellect,  he  saw  not  merely  that  the  mode  of 
investigating  truth  was  erroneous,  "  being  a  philosophy  only 
strong  for  disputations  and  contentions,  but  barren  of  the 
production  of  works  for  the  benefit  of  the  life  of  man  "f 
but  casting  his  view  over  the  whole  map  of  knowledge  with 
the  hand  of  a  master,  he  showed  wherein  the  sciences  were 
wanting,  and  how  these  wants  might  be  supplied.  Among 
those  which  he  enumerates  in  medicine  are  the  following. 

First.  Abandoning  the  method  of  Hippocrates  in  observ- 
ing, describing,  and  recording  the  histories  of  individual 
cases  of  disease. 

Second.  The  neglect  of  dissections,  both  of  the  human 
subject  and  of  animals,  and  also  post  mortem  examinations, 
with  the  view  of  comparing  the  appearances  with  the  symp- 
toms during  the  disease. 

Third.  Want  of  due  attention  to  mitigating  the  sufferings 
.1   patients  in  diseases  which  arc  considered  incurable. 

fourth.  TV  glecting  to  search  for  special  remedies  foi 
pellicula] 


i 


20 

Fifth.  Not  taking  advantage  of  the  benefit  derived  from 
mineral  waters,  to  ascertain  their  peculiar  virtues,  so  as  to 
make  "  an  imitation  by  art  of  natural  baths  and  medicinal 
fountains." 

And  lastly.  The  deficiency  which  he  considers  the  most 
important,  I  shall  give  in  his  own  words.  "  The  prescripts 
in  use  are  too  compendious  to  attain  their  end ;  for  to  my 
understanding,  it  is  a  vain  and  flattering  opinion  to  think  any 
medicine  can  be  so  sovereign  or  so  happy,  as  that  the  receipt 
or  use  of  it  can  work  any  great  effect  upon  the  body  of  man. 
It  were  a  strange  speech,  which,  spoken,  or  spoken  oft,  should 
reclaim  a  man  from  a  vice  to  which  he  were  by  nature  sub- 
ject :  it  is  order,  pursuit,  sequence,  and  interchange  of  ap- 
plication, which  is  mighty  in  nature ;  which,  although  it  require 
more  exact  knowledge  in  prescribing,  and  more  precise  obe- 
dience in  observing,  yet  it  is  recompensed  by  the  magnitude 
of  effects."* 

To  any  one  acquainted  with  the  present  state  of  medicine, 
the  bare  enumeration  of  these  deficiencies  carries  with  it 
the  proof  of  the  vast  improvements  which  have  been  made 
since  the  period  in  which  Lord  Bacon  wrote.  Were  it 
proper  to  go  into  details,  it  might  triumphantly  be  shown, 
that  physicians,  guided  and  illumined  by  the  principles  of  the 
Baconian  philosophy,  have  been  pursuing  the  path  which  has 
led  the  way  to  so  many  discoveries  in  the  other  sciences. 
The  Hippocraiic  method  of  studying  disease  has  been  re- 


*  Advancement  of  Learning,  p.  199, 


21 

vived.  Anatomy  and  physiology,  as  built  upon  dissections 
of  animals  and  of  the  human  subject,  have  been  pursued  with 
unparalleled  ardour,  and  are  now  justly  considered  as  the  only 
rational  basis  of  practical  medicine.  The  post  mortem  ex- 
aminations with  the  view  of  ascertaining  the  seats  of  disease, 
and  comparing  them  with  the  symptoms  previous  to  death, 
have  been  carried  far  beyond  what  might  have  been  antici- 
pated. For  many  diseases,  before  intractable  to  general 
methods,  special  remedies  have  been  discovered.  By  the 
aid  of  chemistry,  mineral  waters  have  been  analyzed,  and  the 
knowledge  thus  obtained  successfully  applied  in  the  treat- 
ment of  disease.  All  this  has  been  done,  and  it  is  glory 
enough  for  any  science  to  have  accomplished  every  thing 
which  the  capacious  mind  of  a  Bacon  could  suggest  as  ne- 
cessary. 

Notwithstanding  all  this,  I  am  aware  that  it  may  be  said 
that  the  spirit  of  theory  and  hypothesis  still  contaminates 
our  science,  and  exerts  its  deleterious  influence  over  our 
practice.  To  this  it  is  sufficient  perhaps  to  reply,  that  the- 
orists are  not  the  just  representatives  of  medicine  any 
more  than  those  visionaries  who  mystify  their  brains  to  dis- 
cover perpetual  motion,  are  the  just  representatives  of  natu- 
ral philosophy ;  or  than  the  aberrations  of  a  disturbed  intel- 
lect arc  to  be  taken  as  a  fair  sample  of  the  operations  of  a 
sound  understanding.  The  truth  is,  theories  do  infest  medi- 
and  will  probably  continue  to  do  so  to  the  end  of  time. 

These  bow<  ve\  ar i  to  be  considered  as  making  up  anj 

1 01   portion  oi  th<    cience     On  the  contrary,  they  are 


the  mere  blots  upon  the  surface — the  excrescences,  which 
like  those  of  the  body,  shoot  out  from  the  weakest  parts, 
They  are  the  intervening  bodies,  which  may  for  a  time 
eclipse,  but  cannot  extinguish  its  glory.  Unlike,  truth  and 
true  philosophy,  the  spirit  of  theory  is  arrogant  and  exclusive. 
That  prince  of  quacks  and  theorists,  Paracelsus,  acted  it  out 
in  full  when  he  ordered  all  the  works  of  his  predecessors  to 
be  solemnly  burnt  before  him  while  gravely  seated  in  his 
professorial  chair,  at  Basil ;  at  the  same  time  declaring,  that 
no  one  need  scruple  getting  certain  secrets  of  physic  from 
the  devil,  and  boasting  of  his  holding  a  conversation  with 
Galen  and  Avicenna  at  the  gates  of  hell.  Another  cele- 
brated theorist  of  the  present  day,  although  the  taste  of  the 
age  does  not  permit  him  to  consign  to  the  flames  the  labours 
of  those  who  have  gone  before  him,  with  quite  as  little  cere- 
mony, denounces  the  whole  of  them  as  useless  and  vain,  and 
holds  himself  up  as  the  first  and  true  founder  of  medicine. 
Trusting  to  the  representations  of  the  author  of  the  "  new 
doctrine,"  as  it  is  styled,  we  should  be  led  to  suppose  that  he 
is  at  last  the  true  prophet,  sent  to  expose  the  errors  and 
delusions  of  all  preceding  times — that  for  centuries  men  have 
been  wandering  in  darkness,  and  that  he  has  been  commis- 
sioned for  the  first  time  to  hold  before  their  astonished  eyes, 
the  torch  of  truth — that  he  has  found  the  key  to  the  para- 
dise of  knowledge,  and  at  his  "  open  sesame,"  all  its  flood- 
gates are  to  be  thrown  open — that  he  is  the  mighty  necro- 
mancer, who  is  to  pour  out  his  oil  and  calm  the  troubled 
waves  of  controversy  and  disputation — that  he  is  to  extend 


23 

his  magic  wand  over  the  medical  world,  and  the  millenium 
of  our  science  is  to  commence.  And  what  is  the  wonderful 
revelation  which  is  to  effect  all  this  ?  What  is  the  "  philo- 
sopher's stone"  which,  after  the  search  of  ages,  has  at  last 
been  discovered  ?  Substantially  nothing  more  nor  less  than 
this — That  what  physicians  have  been  in  the  habit  of  call- 
ing Fever,  from  time  immemorial,  is  nothing  more  than 
"  Gastro-Enteritis,"  and  that  the  whole  of  the  practice  of 
medicine  is  to  be  reduced  down  to  the  use  of  leeches  and 
gum-water !  A  discovery  about  as  profound  as  Paracelsus 
flattered  himself  he  had  made  in  his  famous  elixir,  by 
means  of  which  he  gravely  maintained  that  he  could  prolong 
the  life  of  man  to  the  age  of  Methusaleh ;  and  a  practice 
about  as  rational  as  the  bloodletting  and  hot  water  of  Di% 
Sangrado ! 

Now  with  such  follies  and  extravagancies,  medicine,  in 
its  true  and  just  acceptation,  has  nothing  to  do.  As  a  sci- 
ence, it  is  made  up  of  that  great  mass  of  fact  and  principle, 
which  has  been  accumulated  by  the  labours  of  successive 
generations,  having  for  its  basis  the  certainty  of  observa- 
tion and  experiment.  It  is  worthy  of  remark  too,  that  how- 
ever theorists  may  have  differed  and  disputed,  the  great 
principles  of  practice  have  not  undergone  any  correspond- 
ing mutations.  An  inflammation  of  the  brain,  for  example, 
I  ways  been  treated  veiy  much  as  it  is  at  this  present 
time.  And  with  regard  to  the  theories  themselves,  it  is 
-ratifying  to  observe  how  completely  the  spell  of  their 
influent*  broken     During  the  laal  century,  for 


24 

instance,  how  short-lived  and  limited  have  they  been  when 
compared  with  those  of  earlier  date  !  The  doctrines  of 
Galen,  like  the  logic  of  Aristotle,  held  in  base  servitude  the 
whole  medical  world  for  upwards  of  twelve  hundred  years. 
About  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century,  the  theories  of 
the  chemical  and  mechanical  physicians  bore  sway,  and  with 
various  modifications  maintained  their  ascendency  until  the 
time  of  Dr.  Cullen.  Since  then,  theory  has  followed  theory 
in  quick  succession,  each  succeeding  one  exposing  the  fal- 
lacy of  its  predecessor,  and  the  whole  tending  to  strengthen 
the  general  conviction  upon  the  minds  of  intelligent  and 
reflecting  men,  that  all  should  be  discarded.  Why  these 
theories  have  enjoyed  even  this  ephemeral  existence,  is  of 
easy  explanation.  Generally  speaking,  along  with  much 
error,  they  have  contained  some  truth,  and  the  whole  has 
been  interwoven  with  so  much  plausibility  as  to  gain  them  a 
temporary  currency.  In  addition  to  this,  they  have  usually 
been  promulgated  by  teachers  of  medicine  whose  opinions, 
especially  if  they  contain  any  novelties,  are  apt  to  be  received 
with  enthusiasm  by  youthful  and  ardent  minds.  In  this  way 
have  many  theories  enjoyed  a  popularity  which,  under  other 
circumstances,  they  would  never  have  attained.  Yet  not- 
withstanding all  these  artificial  aids,  they  have  scarcely  sur- 
vived beyond  the  death  of  their  respective  authors,  and  even 
if  they  did,  a  single  generation  of  physicians,  educated  un- 
der another  teacher,  has  been  sure  to  sweep  away  every 
vestige  of  them.  Cullenianism — Brunonianism — Darwin- 
ianism,  and  all  the  other  isms,  have  chased  each  other  down 


25 

to  their  peaceful  slumbers :  and  at  present,  if  we  except  the 
theory  of  Broussais,  we  have  none  prevalent  of  any  import- 
ance. And  even  the  "  new  doctrine"  is  already  sinking 
into  a  premature  grave.  It  is  highly  honourable  to  the  inde- 
pendence and  discrimination  of  the  profession  on  this  side  of 
the  Atlantic,  that  of  the  numerous  schools  of  medicine  which 
we  have  in  the  United  States,  only  one  has  been  infected 
with  the  gum- water  theory. 

There  is  another  objection  which  has  frequently  been 
urged  against  medicine,  which  it  is  proper  should  not  be 
concealed ;  and  this  is,  that  it  leads  to  religious  infidelity. 
In  answering  this  charge,  it  is  essential  that  its  precise 
nature  and  extent  should  be  accurately  defined  and  un- 
derstood. A  little  reflection  will  make  it  obvious  that  it 
involves  two  things  quite  distinct;  and  these  are,  in  the 
first  place,  that  as  a  matter  of  fact,  physicians  are  justly 
tainted  with  the  charge  of  scepticism  ;  and  in  the  second 
place,  that  supposing  this  to  be  the  fact,  it  is  the  genuine  and 
necessary  result  of  the  study  of  medicine.  Both  these  enter 
into  the  general  charge,  and  unless  both  can  be  substantiated, 
the  whole  must  fall  to  the  ground.  It  is  not  necessary  to 
inquire  very  minutely  into  the  first  of  these  propositions. 
Indeed,  it  would  not  be  a  very  easy  task  to  make  out  a  scale 
by  which  to  judge  of  the  relative  degrees  of  scepticism 
pervading  the  ranks  of  our  profession  and  those  of  other 
classes  of  individuals.  That  physicians  have  existed  and  do 
•  list,  who  by  their  infidelity  have  dishonoured  the  fair  fame 
•t  '.in  profession,  i  Huinol  be  denied.    On  the  other  hand, 

I 


26 

the  fact  is  equally  certain,  that  many  of  its  most  distinguished 
members  have  been  the  sincere  and  unaffected  believers  in 
the  truths  of  religion.  And  another  fact  is  equally  unques- 
tionable, that  medical  men,  as  a  body,  at  least  so  far  as  we 
see  them  in  this  country,  are  quite  as  distinguished  for  their 
zeal  in  the  cause  of  piety  as  any  other  class  of  men  pur- 
suing a  calling  purely  secular.  Admitting  all  this  however, 
the  question  still  remains,  does  the  study  of  medicine  give 
the  mind  any  bias  to  infidelity  ?  Does  it  tend  to  weaken 
the  foundations  upon  which  our  faith  in  religion  is  founded  ? 
To  my  mind  nothing  is  clearer  than  that  it  does  not,  if  it  be 
followed  by  its  legitimate  results ;  and  for  any  other  results 
we  certainly  are  not  responsible.  To  a  well  disciplined  and 
reflecting  mind,  is  there  any  thing  in  the  study  of  that  curious 
and  delicate  structure,  the  human  body,  which  displays  the 
power  and  skill  of  the  divine  architect  more  than  all  the 
blazing  wonders  of  the  heavens — is  there  any  thing  in  the 
study  of  diseases,  their  symptoms,  causes  or  cure,  which  can 
possibly  produce  such  effects  ?  On  the  contrary,  is  not  the 
direct  tendency  of  such  studies  to  force  upon  the  mind  the 
conviction  of  the  existence  and  controlling  superintendence 
of  a  superior  Power — and  at  the  same  time,  that  man,  though 
fearfully  and  wonderfully  made,  is  a  frail  and  transitory  and 
dependent  being,  The  truth  is,  it  is  impossible  that  medi- 
cine, if  properly  cultivated,  can  ever  be  subversive  of  morals 
or  religion ;  and  the  whole  history  of  our  art,  from  its  ear- 
liest infancy  down  to  the  present  hour,  furnishes  the  most 
satisfactory  evidence  of  the  truth  of  this  statement,  Bat  I 
cannot  stop  to  pursue  this  subject. 


27 

I  have  thus,  gentlemen,  in  a  very  rapid  manner  thrown  out 
some  general  ideas  in  relation  to  the  science  which  you  have 
chosen  as  the  study  of  your  future  lives,  and  have  endea- 
voured to  show  that  it  is  founded  in  truth  and  nature — that 
it  is  capable  of  giving  full  scope  and  development  to  all  the 
mental  faculties,  and  if  properly  viewed,  to  strengthen  the 
feeling  of  reverence  for  the  great  Creator  of  all  things. 
It  is  truly  a  noble  science,  and  the  youthful  votary  need 
not  be  afraid  of  giving  up  to  it  the  full  and  undivided  power 
of  all  his  faculties. 

In  undertaking  to  lecture  on  a  science  of  which  I  enter- 
tain such  exalted  opinions,  I  feel  conscious  of  assuming  a 
high  and  sacred  responsibility.  To  the  student,  much,  I  had 
almost  said  every  thing,  depends  upon  the  impulse  which  he 
receives  on  commencing  his  studies.  Early  impressions  are 
always  the  most  vivid  and  lasting ;  and  it  is  in  the  lecture- 
room  that  opinions  are  imbibed  which  may  tinge  the  whole 
professional  career  of  the  physician.  It  is  here  that  he  in- 
sensibly acquires  his  habits  of  thinking  in  relation  to  medical 
subjects.  It  is  here  that  he  receives,  unconsciously  perhaps, 
a  bias  to  particular  doctrines  or  theories.  It  is  here,  if  ever, 
that  he  is  to  be  inspired  with  a  love  of  his  science.  It  is 
her©,  in  short,  that  he  is  to  lay  the  foundation  of  a  character 
which  is  to  bless  or  to  curse  mankind.  Under  the  lull  cop 
viction  of  these;  considerations,  if  should  be  llic  constant 
endeavour  of  tin-  teacher  to  conduct  all  his  instructions. 
Vssociated  with  colleagues  distinguished  lor  learning  and 
alent,  and  whose  nervines  in  ihe  cause  of  science  are  known 


28 

and  appreciated,  not  merely  in  this  country,  but  in  Europe, 
I  feel  confident  that  you  will  hear  nothing  in  this  institution 
which  is  not  calculated  to  give  a  just  and  honourable  direc- 
tion to  all  your  labours. 

To  reap  the  full  benefit  however  of  their  instructions, 
there  is  one  thing  essential,  and  that  is,  co-operation  on  the 
part  of  the  student.  No  one  was  ever  yet  made  a  learned 
man,  or  a  great  physician,  by  simply  listening  to  the  in- 
structions of  others.  To  become  such,  he  must  labour 
for  himself.  And  by  doing  so,  by  the  beneficent  disposition 
of  Providence,  it  will  be  found  that  every  one  has  his  cha- 
racter entirely  at  his  own  disposal.  There  are  some  men 
so  favoured  of  heaven  that  the  outpourings  of  their  mighty 
intellects  seem  but  like  the  transmissions  of  celestial  intelli- 
gence. These,  however,  are  rare,  very  rare  exceptions — 
rari  nantes  in  gurgite  vasto — and  beyond  these,  the  universal 
law  of  our  nature  holds  true,  that  nothing  great  or  good  can 
be  accomplished  without  labour ;  and  with  this,  even  ordi- 
nary minds  can  accomplish  almost  every  thing.  This  is  the 
true  Aladdin's  lamp  which  converts  into  sober  realities  all 
the  glittering  visions  of  the  imagination.  It  is  this  has 
felled  the  forest — erected  cities — founded  empires — con- 
trolled the  world.  Now  this  mighty  agent  every  man  has 
at  his  command,  and  he  has  only  to  use  it  properly  to  secure 
all  that  enthusiasm  can  inspire,  or  ambition  covet.  To  do 
this  successfully,  it  is  necessary  to  begin  early.  Youth  is  the 
proper  season  for  enterprise  and  exertion;  and  if  they  be  not 
displayed  then,  as  a  general  rule,  they  will  be  looked  for  in 


29 

\ain  at  any  subsequent  period.  If  you  analyze  the  history 
of  the  men  who  have  astonished  the  world  by  their  exploits, 
you  will  find  that  a  large  proportion  of  them  have  performed 
their  greatest  achievements  in  early  life.  Alexander  the 
Great,  who  sighed  that  he  had  no  more  worlds  to  conquer, 
died  at  the  age  of  thirty-two.  At  the  age  of  twenty-five, 
Napoleon  crossed  the  Alps.  At  twenty-seven,  Cicero  un- 
dertook the  celebrated  defence  of  Roscius  the  player,  which 
laid  the  foundation  of  his  after  fame — the  very  same  age  at 
which  Demosthenes  first  began  to  distinguish  himself  at 
Athens ;  "  as  if,"  says  the  historian  of  Cicero,  "  in  these 
geniuses  of  the  first  magnitude,  that  was  the  proper  season 
of  blooming  towards  maturity."*  The  great  Linnaeus 
sketched  the  outline  of  his  Systema  Naturse  before  he  was 
twenty-four  years  old ;  and  at  the  early  age  of  twenty-six, 
Calvin  published  the  work  which  has  immortalized  his  name 
— " the  Institutes  of  the  Christian  Religion"  containing  a 
system  of  doctrines  which  with  no  material  alterations,  con- 
tinues to  govern  the  religious  creed  of  a  large  section  of  the 
christian  world. 

In  our  profession,  the  absolute  necessity  of  early  and  assi- 
duous study  is  especially  evident.  A  knowledge  of  medi- 
cine is  not  to  be  gained  by  intuition.  What  is  true  of  the 
poet,  Poeta  nascitur,  nonfit,  is  altogether  inapplicable  to  our 
science.     Such  attainments  in  it  as  shall  make  their  posses- 


•  Mulrlli  ton's  I  ii  ■  >" 


30 


sors  revered  while  living  and  transmit  their  names  with  ho- 
nour to  remote  posterity,  must  be  the  result  of  long  and 
ardent  labour,  for  which  the  most  protracted  life  is  but  too 
brief.  It  was  under  the  full  conviction  of  this  truth,  that  the 
father  of  medicine  uttered  that  memorable  apothegm — ars 
longa,  vita  brevis  est  Begin  then,  gentlemen,  early,  and  let 
nothing  interfere  with  the  great  object  to  be  proposed  to 
your  ambition— -that  of  distinction  in  your  profession. 


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